Don Imus: I Ain’t Forgivin’ And Forgettin’ - The Dec 3rd ‘Moment Of Silence’

No matter what Rev. Al Sharpton says, Don Imus has not - and never will - be absolved of his verbal crimes against Black people. The racist trash-talker returns to the airwaves via ABC Radio, on December 3, following a “nine month, 20 million dollar paid vacation courtesy of his old employer, CBS.” His new corporate bosses think Black silence can be purchased cheaply, with public relations stunts like the Sharpton interview. Instead, all ABC and Citadel Broadcasting radio stations should be silenced in African American households for four hours when Imus makes his re-debut.

Some dude named Alexander Pope once said “to err is human but to forgive, divine.”

Whatever, homie. I bet ol’ Alex was the kid who got his lunch money taken everyday at school.

For the record, I vehemently oppose Don Imus’s December 3 return to radio. Just because one Civil Rights leader may have given Imus his blessing does not mean that he’s getting a pass from the other 38,699,999 black folks in this country.

After all the ruckus that jumped off last April, I suppose that we are just gonna let him waltz in and sit his racist behind in that big cushy chair behind the microphone… (Scratch that)

In order to lure Imus to WABC, along with the mega bucks they are paying him, they probably had to throw in a golden throne.

And we’re just to suppose to accept that without a mumblin’ word?

Seems like folks think that after a nine month, 20 million dollar paid vacation courtesy of his old employer, CBS, Imus has somehow paid his debt to society for the “nappy headed ho” comment, last April. Yeah, I know that Imus was real apologetic and even submitted to an hour long interrogation on Rev. Al Sharpton’s radio show. Seems like he’s done everything but hire a black gospel choir, go on a nationwide tour of black mega churches and sing “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.”

Now, I know that some of ya’ll are thinking how noble it is that he is using his big comeback to raise money for a children’s charity. Well drug dealin’ Tyrone gave out free turkey’s last Thanksgiving, does that excuse his behavior?

These people don’t think that black folks know the difference between genuine goodwill and a cheap public relations trick.

To these PR people, the black community is an easy sell. After all, we have let marketing firms convince us that sneakers that cost ten dollars to make are worth $200. And that thousand dollar gold teeth and spinnin’ wheels on a 1988 Honda, somehow make you a better human being.

I can see Imus’s handlers back during the days of slavery, squashing a slave rebellion:

“Don, babe…Just give them an extra chicken wing and a slice of watermelon. Trust me. I know these people…”

We must not forget that the conversation on race in the aftermath of the Imus fiasco which should have been about white male bigotry and the disrespect of black women quickly turned into a conversation about Hip Hop, the “N” word and saggin’ pants.

So, if the NAACP and the other Civil Rights groups that buried the “N” word last July don’t fight tooth and nail against the Imus comeback, they should go to the grave yard, dig up Mr. “N” word and give him a public apology. And if the black bloggers don’t speak out, they need to nominate BET’s highly internet protested show “Hot Ghetto Mess” for an Emmy Award and send host Charlie Murphy a thank you note.

Fair is Fair. But then again, when was the race issue ever fair?

Is it fair that although many people are bringing up the “Freedom of Speech” issue, many black entertainers have been persecuted for much less? I don’t remember rappers such as Sister Souljah and Professor Griff being rewarded with million dollar record deals after they made comments that some folks found offensive. Nor do I remember any support groups being formed for the then “King of Pop,” Michael Jackson, when he was forced to remove “They Don’t Care About Us” from his 1995 HIStory CD. As the old saying goes, when it happens to someone else, it’s a comedy but when it happens to you, it’s a tragedy.

So should WABC and its parent company be held accountable for hiring Don Imus when he should still be in exile on his ranch in New Mexico? You’re darn right!

WABC hiring Imus is like a renegade employee crossing the picket line when you have been protesting out in the cold and rain for two weeks. Unless, you whop the traitor upside the head with a picket sign, you can rest assured that there will be a long line of scabs coming behind him.

So we must stand our ground.

On December 3rd we need to have a 4 hour “moment of silence” from 6AM to 10AM and turn off all stations and programs owned by Citadel Broadcasting and ABC Radio Networks. While this company is mostly known for conservative talk shows, it also depends on African American audiences to support its “multi-cultural” programming.

Sometimes it takes great sacrifices to make change. Sometimes it takes a large 10,000-man demonstration to make a point. Sometimes you have to get on a bus and travel 12 hours to a protest. But sometimes you can make a change by doing something as simple as turning off your radio.

Min. Paul Scott’s blog is http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com/ He can be reached at (919) 451-8283, or at info@nowarningshotsfired.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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Harsh words???? No Sister Souljah had harsh words…true words..but harsh words.

Things have gone way too far in this country. It used to be that we had a sense of humor. No more. Welcome back, Imus.

How come it’s ok to call Alexander Pope a homie? And since when did Al Sharpton become the moral compass for all things Black? Black people and White people need new leadership and voices that send out the message that EDUCATION is POWER. That the funny thing about comedy IS the disrespect–whether you think it’s funny or not. And when you take yourself too seriously you end up solving all your problems with a gun instead of words. In Sudan they want to put to death a middle aged, overweight, British woman elementary school teacher because she let her 6 and 7 year old school kids name a teddy bear Mohammed. There just isn’t much difference between the insanity.

I haven’t listened to Imus before, but I will now to protest your boycott of free speech, and right to work.

By the way, I am surprised you use the word boycott…isn’t ‘boy’a no-no?

If you put this much effort into protesting Darfur, maybe you could help end the genocide!

Where was your march, protest, and boycott about Darfur ?

PAC

I am so glad Imus is back. He made us aware of the Autisim and SIDS problem and the Fisher Houses, and Veterans. He has educated all of us and I missed him.

And, of course, his Ranch.

It is humorless douche-bags like you who set race relations back 100 years! Nappy - an adjective used to describe a hair type. Ho - a black term used to represent women in general (like bitch or freak) Not racist stupid. Where is your outrage over people being hired (or not hired) for jobs based on the color of their skin. Now that’s real racism - it’s also called affirmative action. No problem there though huh?

This is not the kind of thinking that makes great Americans or great Christians.

fw

racist? sound’s like the author of this article is the one living in “slavery times”…and it’s YOUR closed minded attitude, sir, that perpetuates the racism in this country. You and all the other two faced lying snakes that hide behind the “minister” title to whine about something that wasn’t done to YOU by ANYONE alive in this country. Why don’t you start taking responsibility for the FAILURES in your OWN community, you losing whiner.

If you had EVER bothered to listen to Imus more than once, you would know that he is NOT a racist…that title is reserved for two faced bastards like yourself….REVEREND.

“In a statement to the press you said “NABJ remains outraged after the racially inflammatory insults made by Don Imus last spring. He used his free speech to broadcast hate speech.” My questions to you are what kind of speech was he using when he was supporting Harold Ford Jr. for senate? What what kind of speech was he using when he was taking Washington to task for underfunding Sickle Cell research? What kind of speech was he using when he called the current administration racist in it’s treatment of the people of New Orleans in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina? What kind of speech was he using when he had the widow of Bishop G.E. Patterson on his show to let her and the Bishop’s congregation know of his sorry over the Bishop’s passing? My question to you is who are the real users of hate speech, the people who misspeak and apologize or those that would ignore the facts of someone’s life and perpetuate a lie in furtherment of an agenda?”

“You said of Don Imus “My personal opinion is that I find it incredibly troubling that a major media company would find it appropriate to hire somebody that stands for hate”. My questions to you are just what did Don stand for when he used his show to raise funds for children with cancer? What did he stand for when he helped raise funds and awareness of SIDS? What did he stand for when he used his show to help raise money for a treatment center for our returning troops? What did he stand for when he took on the congress for underfunding Sickle Cell research? What does he stand for when he runs a camp to help children afflicted with cancer raise their self esteem? Why would Hackensack University Medical Center name a building, the Don Imus/WFAN Pediatric Center for Tomorrows Children, after someone that stands for hate? My question to you is who are the true haters in this world, the people who misspeak and apologize or those that would ignore the facts of someone’s life and perpetuate a lie in furtherment of an agenda?”

You said of Don Imus “He’s a symbol of racism”. My questions to you are what was he a symbol of when he was supporting Harold Ford Jr. for senate? What was he a symbol of when he was taking Washington to task for underfunding Sickle Cell research? What was he a symbol of when he called the current administration racist in it’s treatment of the people of New Orleans in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina? What was he a symbol of when he had the widow of Bishop G.E. Patterson on his show to let her and the Bishop’s congregation know of his sorrow over the Bishop’s passing? My question to you is who are the real racists, the people who misspeak and apologize or those that would ignore the facts of someone’s life and perpetuate a lie in furtherment of an agenda?”

I sent these questions to three other supposed black leaders who had come out in oposition to Don’s return to radio and none had the decency to reply. Maybe they had no good explanation to their opposition once they had to face the facts. If the author of this hideous diatribe can muster the guts to respond I’ll be back to see what he’s written.

The post by Eric 1 Dec @3:32pm was spot on and the first one I have read that correctly catalogued Imus’ contributions to the charites and cauases he creates or supports. I have listened to Don Imus since 1989 on WFAN when living in the NY area and for the last 14 years in Southern Calif. which is tuning in on MSNBC at 3am so I have experienced all the nuances of his show,format and incredible spoofs and equally articulate interrogation of his generally quite notable guests. His being pilloried for his “racial slur” was wrong, he apologized and created a whole mecca for narrowminded haters to vent their spleens. I wonder how many critics just jumped on the band wagon have ever listened to his program enough to know that he is far from a racist and a credit to helping the disadvantaged. Welcome back Don, nice to hear from the only Republican in the upper 50’s in NYC.

Bob

“nappy headed ho” wasn’t Imus’s best moment. I’m glad he apologized. Glad a lot of attention was focused on what he said. Sorry those poor girls got so badly disrespected like that.

But glad he’s coming back.

Imus is flawed, needs to be slapped around once in a while, but I love the dude. Maybe it’s just that I can relate to being wrong sometimes. Just gotta keep trying to do the right thing.